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The Classic Cube stands as one of the highly popular cubes on Magic Online, the primary digital service for playing MTG before Arena was launched. Now, MTGA players will get the opportunity to encounter immense strength when the Arena Powered Cube debuts on October 28. As per the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including the legendary Power Nine."

What Is the Classic Cube?

As experienced Limited players know, a cube is a distinctive form of draft format that does not pull cards from particular expansions, but instead from a pre-selected collection. The Vintage Cube has long been a enjoyable and widely-used way for Magic fans to experience the thrills of using some of the strongest cards in the game's history without having to pay the substantial cost required for tabletop Vintage. MTG Arena previously offered a comparable option with its Timeless play style, but it did not include cards such as the Power Nine — MTG's classic powerhouse cards, such as Black Lotus, the Mox gem series, Time Walk, Timetwister, and Ancestral Recall ability.

Features of the New Cube Event

The Arena Powered Cube will include 100 new Arena card versions, but some of these will be obtainable at the release of the event. This allows for the inclusion of a broader selection of cards, as some of these massively overpowered cards could create imbalance issues in Constructed gameplay. Based on the announcement, this also facilitated the launch of the latest cube faster. Online community members are already speculating that this decision was a reaction to the negative feedback of the Omenpaths set — the Arena adaptation of a Spider-Man themed set and the least-played Arena set ever, as indicated by various sources.

Event Structure and Participation Information

Introducing a iteration of one of the top draft formats ever will certainly increase engagement in MTG Arena, but there is an key point to note. The Arena Powered Cube will use a reward system and entry fee similar to the Premier Draft tournaments, thus being more expensive to play than earlier cube events. The event structure will be the following:

• Begins On: Oct. 28, 8 a.m. PT (3 p.m. UTC)
• Registration Ends: Nov. 18, 8:00 AM Pacific Time (15:00 UTC)
• Entry: 10k gold, or 1,500 gems, or one draft token
• Game Style: Phantom Player Draft (Participants won't retain the drafted cards)
• Best-of-One: 7 victories or 3 defeats; with ranking
• Best-of-Three: 3 matches; unranked

Rewards and Extra Details

The Cube Prize Packs issued as rewards can contain nearly all cards permitted in the Timeless mode, plus cards from a new, special bonus sheet. For more details on the rewards and the included cards in the Powered Cube, enthusiasts can review the official announcement. Also, on October 22, MTG pro players LSV and Paul Cheon, long-time cube format experts, will share further insights on their video platforms.